Simpson: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Vernon Handley; Hyperion). Robert Simpson is, at 71, one of Great Britain's more compelling adherents to the classical symphonic tradition. He is immensely respectful of the dramatic symphonists that have proceeded from Beethoven and takes his place among them by finding personal solutions to age-old formal problems. If his symphonies are not as stunning as those of, say, Peter Maxwell Davies, it is...

Michael Tippett's oratorio, "A Child of Our Time," is a rare work that honors the past and gives consolation for the present in equal measure. When heard in an account as committed as the one Christopher Bell led with vocal soloists and the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus on Friday night, the score's occasional awkwardness drops away, leaving a sense that the gratifications of high art are still, and always, incomparable. Not even the intensity of Friday's storm, which won out...

Tippett: Byzantium; Symphony No. 4 Faye Robinson, soprano; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor (London). In a 1974 collection of essays, Michael Tippett wrote that his true function as a composer was "to create images of abounding, generous, exuberant beauty." His 1989 setting of William Butler Yeats' poem "Byzantium" delights in setting such images before our senses, and through them bringing us closer to the shadow and light within ourselves. The wide-ranging vocal...

From 1935 to 1983, Swiss arts patron and conductor Paul Sacher commissioned more than 80 works that he performed with the Basel Chamber Orchestra and Choir, which he founded. For his 90th birthday, Ars Musici released "Paul Sacher und die Neue Musik," a 3-CD set of his concert performances of works by 12 international composers. Now, less than a year away from his 2006 centenary, the budget label Arte Nova has made available in the United States (after much delay owing to problems with distribution)

From 1935 to 1983, Swiss arts patron and conductor Paul Sacher commissioned more than 80 works that he performed with the Basel Chamber Orchestra and Choir, which he founded. For his 90th birthday, Ars Musici released "Paul Sacher und die Neue Musik," a 3-CD set of his concert performances of works by 12 international composers. Now, less than a year away from his 2006 centenary, the budget label Arte Nova has made available in the United States (after much delay owing to problems with distribution)

Rep. Sonny Bono, 62, self-deprecating straight man for Cher who wrote hit songs, then started a successful political career; he got his start in 1964, when he and girlfriend Cherilyn Sarkisian recorded "Baby Don't Go," a huge success; the Republican former mayor of Palm Springs, Calif., (1988-92) won a seat in the House in 1994 and was reelected in 1996; Jan. 5, in a skiing accident in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Eleanor R. "Ellie" Daley, 56, an older sister of Chicago...

Michael Tippett's oratorio, "A Child of Our Time," is a rare work that honors the past and gives consolation for the present in equal measure. When heard in an account as committed as the one Christopher Bell led with vocal soloists and the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus on Friday night, the score's occasional awkwardness drops away, leaving a sense that the gratifications of high art are still, and always, incomparable. Not even the intensity of Friday's storm, which won out...

Composer Michael Tippett, who became one of Britain's most important and honored musical figures while defying English nationalism and academic musical fashion, has died at 93. The composer passed away at his west London home Thursday, two months after contracting pneumonia, according to Meirion Bowen, his longtime musical assistant, biographer and companion. Tippett had been plagued by failing eyesight and was legally blind at his death. Tippett's musical ties to Chicago...

The appearance of any new work by Michael Tippett merits respectful attention, but the American premiere of his String Quartet No. 5 Monday night at the Blackstone Theatre carried a special cachet. The new score came to us courtesy of local sponsorship, having been co-commissioned by Chamber Music Chicago along with other adventuresome presenters in Michigan and California. Performing the work was its dedicatee, Britain's Lindsay Quartet, which had given the...

Tippett: Byzantium; Symphony No. 4 Faye Robinson, soprano; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor (London). In a 1974 collection of essays, Michael Tippett wrote that his true function as a composer was "to create images of abounding, generous, exuberant beauty." His 1989 setting of William Butler Yeats' poem "Byzantium" delights in setting such images before our senses, and through them bringing us closer to the shadow and light within ourselves. The wide-ranging vocal...

The 80th birthday of Michael Tippett came and went last year with very little acknowledgement on these shores--a curious oversight indeed, considering the composer's importance to contemporary music in general, English music in particular. At least Chicago has not been remiss in honoring Tippett. His fourth opera, "The Knot Garden," had its American premiere at Northwestern University in 1974. And it was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra that commissioned and gave the first American and...

Simpson: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Vernon Handley; Hyperion). Robert Simpson is, at 71, one of Great Britain's more compelling adherents to the classical symphonic tradition. He is immensely respectful of the dramatic symphonists that have proceeded from Beethoven and takes his place among them by finding personal solutions to age-old formal problems. If his symphonies are not as stunning as those of, say, Peter Maxwell Davies, it is...

Michael Tippett lives fiercely in the present, cares deeply about the past and, because he is a visionary and poet as much as he is a composer, finds much to ponder in the profound questions that surround mankind's future. Generally hailed as Britain's leading living composer, he remains one of the great independent figures of 20th Century music, going his own way heedless of musical fashion. This maverick streak helps to explain the long neglect and the misunderstanding that...

The appearance of any new work by Michael Tippett merits respectful attention, but the American premiere of his String Quartet No. 5 Monday night at the Blackstone Theatre carried a special cachet. The new score came to us courtesy of local sponsorship, having been co-commissioned by Chamber Music Chicago along with other adventuresome presenters in Michigan and California. Performing the work was its dedicatee, Britain's Lindsay Quartet, which had given the...

He isn`t quite sure when the obsession began, nor did he expect it would take hold of him quite so intensely. Yet pianist Clive Swansbourne has spent a dozen years of his life and thousands of his dollars promoting the music of "England's greatest living composer," even though Swansbourne has never even met the man. "But I`m certain that some day I will, maybe even this year," says Swansbourne, whose efforts on behalf of Michael Tippett and...

Michael Tippett lives fiercely in the present, cares deeply about the past and, because he is a visionary and poet as much as he is a composer, finds much to ponder in the profound questions that surround mankind's future. Generally hailed as Britain's leading living composer, he remains one of the great independent figures of 20th Century music, going his own way heedless of musical fashion. This maverick streak helps to explain the long neglect and the misunderstanding that...

Rep. Sonny Bono, 62, self-deprecating straight man for Cher who wrote hit songs, then started a successful political career; he got his start in 1964, when he and girlfriend Cherilyn Sarkisian recorded "Baby Don't Go," a huge success; the Republican former mayor of Palm Springs, Calif., (1988-92) won a seat in the House in 1994 and was reelected in 1996; Jan. 5, in a skiing accident in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Eleanor R. "Ellie" Daley, 56, an older sister of Chicago...

Second-season bounty in classical music comes in a variety of packages. Here are the highlights: Orchestras. Goodbye, Sir Georg; hello, Daniel Barenboim. That's the theme song at the Chicago Symphony this spring, when the musical community bids farewell to Georg Solti as music director and welcomes his successor, whose six-week block of subscription programs should tell us a good deal about what we may expect from him after he takes the baton from Solti next September. Solti's final Chicago...

Second-season bounty in classical music comes in a variety of packages. Here are the highlights: Orchestras. Goodbye, Sir Georg; hello, Daniel Barenboim. That's the theme song at the Chicago Symphony this spring, when the musical community bids farewell to Georg Solti as music director and welcomes his successor, whose six-week block of subscription programs should tell us a good deal about what we may expect from him after he takes the baton from Solti next September. Solti's final Chicago...

He isn`t quite sure when the obsession began, nor did he expect it would take hold of him quite so intensely. Yet pianist Clive Swansbourne has spent a dozen years of his life and thousands of his dollars promoting the music of "England's greatest living composer," even though Swansbourne has never even met the man. "But I`m certain that some day I will, maybe even this year," says Swansbourne, whose efforts on behalf of Michael Tippett and...